Senegalese women took to the streets of Dakar on Saturday, 23rd October 2021, to demand climate action, chanting "we are committed..we all have the same planet."

Their objective was to promote their participation in the climate debate and encourage people to consider their specific climate concerns as Senegalese and African women at next month's climate summit in Glasgow - COP26.

Co-organiser Nadia Dia said that the march was also dedicated to future generations, maintaining that COP26 will succeed only if Africa is at the heart of the negotiations.

Africa contributes the least emissions, 4 percent of global total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but is suffering the brunt of global warming. 

In a video released by DW News, Dia highlights this, asking “why don’t the others stop polluting our continent? We do not want this pollution anymore.”

According to Mr. Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale, Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, climate issues in Africa involve food insecurity, population displacement and water scarcity. 

More than half of African countries are likely to experience climate-related conflicts, which specifically places African women and girls at high risk of harm. 

At the protest, the women raised the issues of contaminated soil and vanishing water reserves in the interior of the country leading to animal death. Agriculture, one of Senegal’s major industry sectors in which many women practice market gardening, is heavily affected by these developments.